New Label Regulations

by Claire Martinsen on Thu 13th Aug 2015 02:46

I shared last week that EU law required the flagging of 14 allergens [including nuts, lupin and celery]…a further piece of EU law comes into effect in 2016 requiring all packaged foods to have full nutritional labelling on it too. In fact I’ve always been ahead of the curve on this one, and Breckland Orchard […]

09
Dec
2014

When life is VERY busy ....I really need.........

by Claire Martinsen on Tue 09th Dec 2014 08:31

Life as a small business owner is relentlessly hectic…always more work to be done than hours in the day. Things often zig and zag and never quite turn out how you expect! And in all my rushing about I often don’t have time to drink my mug of coffee! Cue a mug of cold coffee […]

07
Nov
2014

End of the month........

by Claire Martinsen on Fri 07th Nov 2014 03:06

Half term last week kind of threw me! I have a little ritual come month end at Breckland Orchard, where I do a snapshot report on the previous 4 weeks. I know that makes me a little ‘sad’ but it discipline that was second nature when I worked in the corporate world, so I guess […]

25
Aug
2014

Recipe for a Food Start-up

by Claire Martinsen on Mon 25th Aug 2014 03:53

INGREDIENTS 1kg Hard work 500g Love and Passion 500g A great team to help you 250g Tenacity and determination 250g Weathering some knocks 100ml Creativity and innovation 1 tbspn Good Luck 1 tbspn Support from family and friends 1 tspn Meeting the right people at the right time 1 tspn Great Suppliers A smidgen […]

17
Jul
2014

NPD Food Conference 2014.....Advice from a Buyer

by Claire Martinsen on Thu 17th Jul 2014 03:26

Nicola Berry, Supply Chain Manager from the Lincolnshire Co-op spoke at the conference last week. She was warm, open and gave out liberal doses of advice and guidance to the audience about how to get their products stocked in a regional supermarket. She was really clear about the whole buying process and explained it in […]

13
May
2014

Sales Chatter

by Claire Martinsen on Tue 13th May 2014 09:13

I do get an awful lot of cold sales calls here at Breckland Orchard HQ……I try and be my very politest but sometimes even my patient nature is tested. Here’s a couple of memorable ones from the past two days. [1] CARD PAYMENTS Now this really was a random one, because I don’t use any […]

09
May
2014

Food Start up Bootcamp comes East!

by Claire Martinsen on Fri 09th May 2014 04:24

It’s pretty daunting starting your own business…..probably more so a food business as there are just so many rules and regulations that you have to abide by [labelling; branding; food hygiene; ingredients; shelf life etc]. I may have started this journey a few years ago, but I’m still learning every single day! There seems to […]

17
Mar
2014

Plan act like Anchors........

by Claire Martinsen on Mon 17th Mar 2014 03:38

I sometimes act as a sounding board for start-up food entrepreneurs……it’s all very well having a business coach or mentor, but there are sometimes elements of a business that are very food specific! Elements such as labelling requirements, best before dates, storage instructions etc……things that you maybe don’t have to worry about if you have […]

10
Jan
2014

Upping your creativity...............

by Claire Martinsen on Fri 10th Jan 2014 06:14

I was in the car for a few hours this week, and was completely frustrated at not being able to scribe down all my ideas. The more miles I was driving and the longer I was in the car the more ideas were being formulated in my head. One of my favourite blogs is the […]

13
Nov
2013

Why I love a good plan.............

by Claire Martinsen on Wed 13th Nov 2013 07:28

The end of the year is still a few weeks away [though by the amount of Christmas adverts on the TV at the moment you wouldn’t know….], I always like to have my plans for the new year, done and dusted by the middle of the month. So today I’m taking a good look back […]

11
Nov
2013

Coffee and Calm at Catesby's

by Claire Martinsen on Mon 11th Nov 2013 11:38

Last week I spent a fantastic day on the North Norfolk coast at Catesby’s in Wells. In a previous life, Neil [who co-owns Catesbys] and I had vaguely crossed paths and then when he and Jonathan opened Catesby’s a few years ago our paths crossed again when they were looking for a boutique soft drink […]

20
May
2013

One of my favourite blogs.......

by Claire Martinsen on Mon 20th May 2013 02:41

I love information, but there’s a world of information and advice out there on the web, so it helps to have a place where all that advice is ‘curated’ [gosh – I do hate that word, but it kind-of-fits here…sorry!]. I love the Business Bakery Blog, and though founder Julia Bickerstaff lives on the other […]

19
Feb
2013

Half Term Lessons from the Mini-Martinsens......

by Claire Martinsen on Tue 19th Feb 2013 14:52

I’ve had the past 3 days as a ‘mini’ holiday, spending the second part of the half term break with the Mini-Martinsens. Mr Breckland was away for a long weekend skiing in his native Norway, so it’s been just me and the mini’s for four whole days! They’re at a magical age – SOOOO much […]

29
Jan
2013

50 Tried and Tested Business Tips from Sage

by Claire Martinsen on Tue 29th Jan 2013 02:57

I’m very proud to be a Sage Business Expert and was recently asked for my top business tip. It’s hard to hone things down to one, but the Tip I wanted to share was about sharing plans with suppliers. That’s always been my way of working at Breckland Orchard – I want to share all […]

06
Dec
2012

I love December..........Elves, Santa and Business Planning

by Claire Martinsen on Thu 06th Dec 2012 03:24

I love December and all that build up to Christmas. My children have just turned 5 and 7, and are VERY excited about the whole thing. The tree is up, decorations all through the house, letters to Father Christmas written……..this year we also have an ‘elf’ who has moved in with us [aka Elf on […]

04
Dec
2012

Websites are always work-in-progress

by Claire Martinsen on Tue 04th Dec 2012 02:00

I loved this Blogpost from Karen Skidmore about Website development. SOOOO true what she says…..websites are never complete. My own website history is just as chequered! I launched in March 2009 at Feast East – the Food and Drink show organised by Tastes of Anglia. Now the great thing about having to launch on a […]

04
Dec
2012

Develop a Rhinoskin

by Claire Martinsen on Tue 04th Dec 2012 01:28

I resigned my corporate job in October 2008, and my first Breckland Orchard bottles came off the production line in February 2009, so I had a four month period when I was a ‘pre-start up’. I was doing ‘stuff’ behind the scenes, but for most of that time I didn’t have a business name, let […]

21
Nov
2012

Barclays, Innocent and Paddy & Scott's.......

by Claire Martinsen on Wed 21st Nov 2012 10:26

I was at Norfolk Showground last night for a Barclays Business Seminar. The ‘shed’ that has been used for the Food Hall at the Norfolk Show for many years has undergone a makeover, and is now an all-singing-all-dancing venue [and pretty swanky it has to be said]. Last night it was tranformed in a fabulous […]

16
Nov
2012

Friday: Global Entrepreneurship Week.........My one BIG top tip

by Claire Martinsen on Fri 16th Nov 2012 16:27

‘Pass it on’ is the theme of this years Global Entrepreneurship Week – all about small business owners sharing tips and advice. So I wanted to end the week by passing on my single biggest tip! Just get going! Yeap – that’s it….nothing more complicated than that. On Wednesday I shared tips about what things […]

15
Nov
2012

Thursday: Global Entrepreneurship Week....Top things to invest in as a startup

by Claire Martinsen on Thu 15th Nov 2012 09:30

When you start up in business there are just SO many things to buy……..combined with lots of people wanting to sell to you. From experience here’s my top 10 list of things to invest in when you are just starting out! Great Design/Logo When you start up, no one knows you from an adam. […]